Are your unruly plants attempting to escape from their pots? This ingenious TikTok trick will keep your vines in check, and you only need one common household item.
The Scoop
Whether you're dealing with plants whose vines seem determined to escape their pots or craving the aesthetic of a fuller-looking plant, this hack is for you.
In the video, TikToker Yasmin (@yassssyyy) demonstrates an easy way to secure vines inside the pot using just a hairpin.Â
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"You're going to take a hairpin or a bobby pin … and you're literally going to put the pin in and push it into the dirt," she says.
Gently attach the pin around the vine and push it into the dirt. Be careful — before inserting the pin, pull the bobby pin apart to create a wider gap for your plant's stem. Otherwise, you risk pinching the stem and possibly damaging your plant. If your pot is severely overrun, you might want to consider repotting into a larger pot before pinning.
"This is also really good for if you want the aerial roots to grow back into the soil," she says.
How it's helping
This trick is a time-saver.
Aerial roots can be unwieldy, and if you choose to ignore them, they'll continue to grow out of the pot unless you take the time to prune them safely. But they can act as regular roots if you guide them back into the soil, and it only takes a few seconds. No pruning!
Pruning, repotting, watering — gardening can seem complicated, but it's worth it.
Studies show that gardening has a positive impact on physical health and happiness, with one meta-analysis reporting "reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms, stress, mood disturbance, and BMI, as well as increases in quality of life, sense of community, physical activity levels, and cognitive function."
Discover the joys of gardening and check out our guides for how to grow your own food. In addition to saving money, growing your own food will cut down on the demand for globally shipped produce. One pound of transported food creates 0.18 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution, meaning you'll lessen your carbon footprint.Â
What everyone's saying
Users were shocked at such a simple solution to their pesky plant problem, and others had been using the same trick themselves.
One person noted, "The only annoying thing is that they grow sooo quickly."
"I've been doing this for years! Cheap and easy," another user commented.Â
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